The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary by Bruce K. Waltke, James M. Houston, and Erika Moore (Reviewed by A. C. Witt)

Yahweh’s Council: Its Structure and Membership by EllenWhite (Reviewed by M. S. Heiser)

]]>http://jesot.org/2015/07/jesot-4-1-book-reviews/feed/0“‘I was King over Israel in Jerusalem”: Inerrancy and Authorial Ambiguity in Ecclesiastes” by RUSSELL L. MEEKhttp://jesot.org/2015/07/i-was-king-over-israel-in-jerusalem-inerrancy-and-authorial-ambiguity-in-ecclesiastes-by-russell-l-meek/
http://jesot.org/2015/07/i-was-king-over-israel-in-jerusalem-inerrancy-and-authorial-ambiguity-in-ecclesiastes-by-russell-l-meek/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 03:51:43 +0000http://jesot.org/?p=862“‘I was King over Israel in Jerusalem': Inerrancy and Authorial Ambiguity in Ecclesiastes” by RUSSELL L. MEEK

ABSTRACT: Solomon has been traditionally regarded as the author of Ecclesiastes; however, a review of the evidence for the book’s authorship is inconclusive. Because the authorship of Ecclesiastes cannot be proved definitively and the book itself makes no explicit claims of authorship, it is crucial to disentangle the conversation over the book’s authorship from the issue of inerrancy. In our defense of God’s inerrant and infallible word, evangelical scholars must be careful not to argue more than the text itself will allow. There are compelling arguments for and against Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes, but ultimately the ambiguity of the biblical evidence cautions against dogmatism on this point. Therefore, the debate over Solomonic authorship should not be couched in terms of one’s view of inerrancy.

ABSTRACT: Daniel 9 is renowned for the textual and theological problems it raises for interpreters, and for the diverse readings it generates. Yet Dan 9 also presents a fascinating tapestry of inner-biblical quotations and allusions. Within this matrix, however, the voice of Leviticus has not been fully appreciated. Nonetheless, Levitical terminology and thought forms pervade the chapter and perform a significant function. The combined force of these parallels suggests the raison d’être for Daniel’s prayer, elucidates the mediated response and suggests a theological coherence to the chapter as a whole. Thus, this article argues that intertextual sensitivity to the array of Leviticus connections made can constrain exegesis of Dan 9, while at the same time generating new insights into its theological perspective.

ABSTRACT: Ancient Christian commentaries on the Book of Job, and specifically reflection on Job’s direct theophanic interaction with God in Job 38, offer important insights into the contexts of their writers and the writers’ congregations. This is especially clear in the case of two roughly contemporary “commentaries” produced by John Chrysostom and Julian the Arian. These are two of the earliest extant works on Job in the Christian East in the wake of the Nicene and non-Nicene theological and political disputes occurring at the turn of the fourth century. For these two exegetes, Job becomes a moldable figure identified with the key tenets of their theological systems, experiencing direct revelation as a result of his exemplification of the exegetes’ favored spiritual charisms and political biases due to his ambiguous place in the scheme of salvation-history. Despite each theologian sharing similar methodology, their exegesis produces two vastly different depictions for their readers of what is involved in leading a godly life in general, and how one should attempt to emulate Job himself to become closer to God.

]]>http://jesot.org/2015/07/will-the-real-job-please-stand-up-politico-pastoral-exegesis-of-job-38-in-the-wake-of-nicea-by-charles-meeks/feed/0“Assigning the Book of Lamentations a Place in the Canon” by GREG GOSWELLhttp://jesot.org/2015/07/assigning-the-book-of-lamentations-a-place-in-the-canon-by-greg-goswell/
http://jesot.org/2015/07/assigning-the-book-of-lamentations-a-place-in-the-canon-by-greg-goswell/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 03:46:33 +0000http://jesot.org/?p=853“Assigning the Book of Lamentations a Place in the Canon” by GREG GOSWELL

ABSTRACT: Lamentations is one of a number of books that is found in more than one position in the different canons of Scripture. These canons are a product of different reading communities, each with their own interpretation of the biblical books. The present study is based on the premise that where a biblical book is placed relative to other books reflects an evaluation of the book by ancient readers, with the ordering of books viewed as a paratextual phenomenon. With regard to Lamentations, two different positions (each with its own rationale) are found in the Hebrew and Greek canons. The alternate placements of the book of Lamentations reveal that the compilers of these canons viewed its theological and historical meanings in different ways. These two different contexts are intended to shape the reader’s perception of what the book is about. Consciously or unconsciously, the con-temporary reader is influenced by the positioning of a biblical book. Thus, canonical placement is not value-neutral and needs to be critically evaluated.

ABSTRACT:Daniel 9:24 is fraught with puzzling language, particularly the meaning of the “seventy sevens.” Rather than add to the relevant commentaries, this paper approaches the phrase in light of the heptadic language we find in select Qumran sources. Jubilees, 1 Enoch, and related scrolls portray these heptadic structures as primarily theological expressions, with chronology either set in the background or absent altogether. I suggest this context casts the seventy sevens in a new light, wherein it serves a mainly theological function instead of a rigid temporal one. Beginning with a brief examination of each major extracanonical source, we will consider two theological implications that come as a result of these texts’ reception of Daniel: first, Daniel’s seventy sevens may need to be considered a theological image; second, the image likely paints a picture of exile and restoration in its fullness, spanning all epochs, not just the Babylonian, Media-Persian, and Seleucid-Hasmonean crises. The conclusion notes how such literary and theological moves may also point to a deliberate shape inherent to Dan 9, one that includes subsequent, interpretive communities, such as Qumran and its sects.

ABSTRACT:In Gen 20:7, YHWH refers to Abraham as a prophet, thus distinguishing Abraham as the first person explicitly identified as a prophet (נביא) in the Hebrew Bible. Unfortunately, the relevant secondary literature (prophetic introductions, biblical theologies, and theologies of the Pentateuch) has given minimal attention to Abraham’s prophetic role. This article attempts to correct this oversight by examining Abraham’s prophetic characteristics in the Abrahamic narrative (Gen 11:27–25:11). After outlining general prophetic characteristics given in the Pentateuch and the rest of the Hebrew Bible, this article highlights Abraham’s prophetic characteristics in order to demonstrate Abraham’s role as a prophet in the biblical text. The article’s final section compares and contrasts Abraham with two other prophets in the Pentateuch, Balaam and Moses, in order to identify possible implications for the theology of the Pentateuch.

KEYWORDS: Abraham, prophet, prophetic characteristics, Balaam, Moses

]]>http://jesot.org/2015/01/prophet-and-patriarch-abrahams-prophetic-characteristics-in-genesis-by-jay-todd/feed/0“Queens, Widows, and Mesdames: The Role of Women in the Elijah-Elisha Narrative” by JOSHUA JOEL SPOELSTRAhttp://jesot.org/2015/01/queens-widows-and-mesdames-the-role-of-women-in-the-elijah-elisha-narrative-by-joshua-joel-spoelstra/
http://jesot.org/2015/01/queens-widows-and-mesdames-the-role-of-women-in-the-elijah-elisha-narrative-by-joshua-joel-spoelstra/#commentsFri, 09 Jan 2015 21:22:18 +0000http://jesot.org/?p=757“Queens, Widows, and Mesdames: The Role of Women in the Elijah-Elisha Narrative” by JOSHUA JOEL SPOELSTRA

ABSTRACT:The Elijah-Elisha narrative cycle (1 Kgs 17–2 Kgs 13) features a higher density of women than usual in the Hebrew Bible. What do these women contribute to the narrative unit(s)? Through semiotic analysis, this paper presents a complex of three socio-religious and theological themes: food-famine, life-death, and orthodoxy-idolatry. These semiotics do not come into sharp focus, it is argued, without the analysis of the women of 1 Kgs 17–2 Kgs 13. The semiotic axes of food-famine, life-death, and orthodoxy-idolatry are, further, interwoven into and indicative of the miraculous and prophetic activity of Elijah and Elisha.

ABSTRACT: The major difficulty facing any suggestion that Elihu provides a possible explanation for Job’s suffering is that nothing he says comes close to describing the events described in the book’s prologue. This paper builds on the suggestion that the account in the prologue is not meant to provide a comprehensive rationale for Job’s continuing suffering, freeing the reader to review Elihu’s contribution in a new light. Furthermore, I argue that Elihu’s contribution presents a non-retributive rationale for Job’s suffering which does not fall under the same condemnation as that of his friends. Ultimately, then, Elihu’s account might be correct. This serves the author’s purpose by allowing an alternative to retributive justice while, by not affirming Elihu’s explanation, ensuring the reader understands that the true cause of Job’s suffering must remain a mystery.